David Henderson, the organizer of Emiliano Sala's flight, who disappeared in a plane crash on January 21, 2019, was sentenced this Friday to 18 months in prison by a court in Cardiff (Wales).
On October 28, after nearly two weeks of trial in October, he was found guilty of recklessness or negligence likely to have endangered the device in which the 28-year-old was traveling to join the club. from Cardiff City, where he had just been transferred from FC Nantes for 17 million euros.
He had pleaded guilty to carrying a passenger without valid authorization.
The body of the player, whose disappearance had moved the football world, was found in the carcass of the device, more than two weeks after the accident, at a depth of 67 m.
The body of the 59-year-old pilot has not been found.
Read also Death of Emiliano Sala: the story of a universal drama
According to the version developed by the prosecution during the trial, the defendant was initially supposed to pilot the device but, on vacation in Paris with his wife, he had entrusted the transport to David Ibbotson.
The latter did not have a commercial pilot license, his qualification for this type of aircraft had expired and he was not competent to fly at night.
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In its final report published in March 2020, the British Aviation Accident Investigation Bureau estimated that the pilot lost control of the aircraft during a maneuver performed at too high a speed, "probably" intended to avoid bad weather.
Emiliano Sala's remains were repatriated in February 2019 to Argentina.